Ex-FBI agent convicted in 1982 mob slaying

He had helped one kingpin escape

Curt Anderson, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PST, Friday, November 7, 2008

Former FBI agent John Connolly, left, is led out of court by court officers after hearing the verdict, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008 in Miami. Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for leaking information to Boston mobsters that led to the 1982 shooting death of a gambling executive who also had ties to gangsters.(AP Photo/Patrick Farrell, Pool)**NO SALES, MAGS OUT** less

Former FBI agent John Connolly, left, is led out of court by court officers after hearing the verdict, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008 in Miami. Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree ... more

Photo: Patrick Farrell, AP

Photo: Patrick Farrell, AP

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Former FBI agent John Connolly, left, is led out of court by court officers after hearing the verdict, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008 in Miami. Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for leaking information to Boston mobsters that led to the 1982 shooting death of a gambling executive who also had ties to gangsters.(AP Photo/Patrick Farrell, Pool)**NO SALES, MAGS OUT** less

Former FBI agent John Connolly, left, is led out of court by court officers after hearing the verdict, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008 in Miami. Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree ... more

Photo: Patrick Farrell, AP

Ex-FBI agent convicted in 1982 mob slaying

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Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for leaking information to Boston mobsters that led to the 1982 shooting death of a gambling executive who also had ties to gangsters.

Jurors deliberated about 13 hours over three days before delivering the verdict following a two-month trial. The jury acquitted Connolly of first-degree murder conspiracy, but he still faces a maximum of life in prison when sentenced Dec. 4.

Testimony indicated that former World Jai-Alai President John Callahan was killed after Connolly warned gangsters that Callahan might implicate them in other slayings. Boston mob kingpins James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi were FBI informants handled by Connolly.

Connolly, who long denied involvement in Callahan's killing, was convicted in 2002 of racketeering because of his corrupt relationship with Bulger and Flemmi, including a 1995 tip that enabled Bulger to escape arrest and begin a life on the run that continues to this day. Bulger is one of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" fugitives, with a $2 million bounty for his capture.

"Unless we catch Whitey Bulger, this marks the end of what is really a sad chapter for federal law enforcement," said Fred Wyshak, an assistant U.S. attorney from Boston who helped prosecute the Florida case. "It's been a long haul."

The story that unfolded over the past two months in a Miami courtroom spanned more than two decades of Boston's underworld, a tale of the notorious Winter Hill Gang that has already spawned several books and partly inspired the 2006 Martin Scorcese film "The Departed."

Connolly, who retired from the FBI in 1990, was paid $235,000 in cash delivered in envelopes over the years by Bulger and Flemmi and even took vacations with Bulger, according to trial testimony.

Connolly attorney Manuel Casabielle said there will be an appeal based in part on Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake's decision to allow jurors to hear evidence of corruption not directly related to the Miami slaying.

Connolly is already serving a 10-year federal prison sentence in the corruption case. He was indicted in 2005 in Miami for the killing of Callahan, 45.